Illusion of Power in the Online World: Part 1 - Online Power from KOLs

They were once hailed as heroes of social media - calling for relief, promoting products "for the community", inspiring beautiful and compassionate living..., but within just a few weeks, a series of these "idols" were arrested and prosecuted for deceiving consumers, tax evasion, and drug addiction.

Editor's note: The online world was once praised as a space of creative freedom, where people could share knowledge and spread positivity. But along with that spread was the rise of "virtual power" - where reputation was measured by views, trust was exchanged for interactions, and ethics were obscured by the halo. Just from the beginning of 2025 until now, many famous people have been arrested for violating the law, causing the dark side of the "virtual world" to be exposed once again.

KOL - Who are they?

Abbreviation of the English phrase “Key Opinion Leader” - KOL is understood as “Key Opinion Leader”, or “Key Public Opinion Leader”, besides the positive aspects, there have now appeared many “deformed” KOLs, using social networks to manipulate emotions, profit economically and even sabotage social order.

It is essential to correctly identify the roles and responsibilities of KOLs, and orient them within the framework of ethical standards and legal compliance. It can be seen that KOLs have two basic characteristics: They are prestigious in a field/industry thanks to their understanding, qualifications, and extensive professional knowledge; their prestige and knowledge can influence a certain group of people, create strong influence and lead public opinion.

According to the Ministry of Public Security , KOL accounts subject to review, statistics, evaluation, and implementation of public security work must have at least 5,000 followers or more for "reputable KOLs"; 10,000 followers or more for "network KOLs"; or "hidden KOLs" managing, operating, and dominating a system of accounts, pages, channels, and social network groups with at least one account in the system having 10,000 followers or members or more.

In fact, it is possible to “classify” these 4 social groups: People who have prestige in society, participate and create influence in cyberspace; people who do not have prestige in society but create influence due to having a large number of followers in cyberspace; people who have indirect influence in cyberspace; people who have influence in the field of marketing on social networks.

It is easy to see that most KOLs have something in common: creativity, confidence, sensitivity to trends, and a desire for recognition. But when desire exceeds ethical limits, “network power” becomes an illusion of power - where individual voices can overwhelm community reason.

Legal framework and civic responsibility

With Law No. 75/2025/QH15 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2012 Advertising Law of the National Assembly, effective from January 1, 2026, for the first time, influencers' legal responsibilities when carrying out advertising activities have been clearly defined. Accordingly, influencers who advertise falsely may be handled according to Article 11: Administrative sanctions, criminal prosecution depending on the nature and extent of the violation. Compensation for damages if causing damage to consumers. Responsibility before the law if advertising content does not ensure honesty, clarity, or causes misunderstanding (according to Article 19).

In addition, the Law on Cyber ​​Security and other regulations related to advertising, taxes, etc. have clearly defined the legal responsibilities of influential individuals. But the main issue is still self-regulation awareness. If KOLs really want to survive in the long term, they must understand that civic responsibility is more important than personal image. And the public, if they do not want to be fooled, must learn to trust with reason, not with emotion.

When the keyboard becomes a "powerful weapon"

From the actual developments, it can be affirmed that KOLs are people who have a huge influence on the public, in some cases they are also "ideological shapers", not only leading public opinion but also manipulating the crowd, leaving unpredictable consequences. Although a series of their violations of the law (from counterfeit production, false advertising, to tax evasion) have been exposed, they still do not shake the trust of a large part of the public. This reflects the power of the combination of psychological, social factors and media mechanisms.

Hanoi City Police inspect the business activities of drugs, functional foods, and cosmetics advertised by KOLs. Photo: MINH KHANG

First of all, KOLs build personal images and "stories" that are close and easy to empathize with. The case of Quang Linh Vlogs, famous for his videos helping the people of Angola, creating the image of "Compassionate Vietnamese", is typical. Although he was prosecuted in April 2025 for producing fake Kera vegetable candy (containing only 0.6% - 0.75% vegetables instead of 28% as advertised), many fans still defended him, saying "he just made a mistake".

Similarly, Hang Du Muc built an image of a “strong businesswoman”, then fell into the hands of the law when the case of defrauding customers was exposed, but some people still believe “she was wronged”. According to criminologist Dao Trung Hieu, this is a “tactic that appeals to emotions instead of reason”, activating the “trust in the heart” effect without verifying. Consumers often “buy products based on trust in images and stories”, leading to blindness.

Second, that “belief” comes from the crowd effect and social network algorithms. Social networks, where KOL content is promoted through likes and shares, expose users mainly to consensus opinions. When violations are exposed, a part of fans still “normalize” the violations, claiming that “everyone makes mistakes” or “it’s just a misunderstanding”.

For example, in the case of Ngan 98, who was arrested in October 2025 for producing fake food, with hundreds of billions of dong in revenue from livestreaming, but was still publicly supported by a number of other KOLs, leading to fierce debate online. This made fans continue to believe, considering this incident a "personal drama" instead of a violation of the law. For that reason, when Ngan's husband, Luong Bang Quang, spoke out about being "sad" and "missing" his wife online, hundreds of thousands of likes and tens of thousands of "mourning" comments for Ngan 98 continued to flood in...

More worryingly, when KOLs launch products to the market, the crowd effect “overwhelms credibility and verification”. Followers feel “safe” when they see millions of likes, leading to the mentality of “if everyone believes it, it must be true”.

Third, the mentality of “celebrities use it, it’s good” and lack of legal awareness. Typical examples of that story are Miss Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien being prosecuted for deceiving customers in the Kera candy case (fined 25 million VND for false advertising), even though she was once considered a “positive role model”; Hoang Huong was arrested for tax evasion of 2,100 billion VND and false advertising of functional foods, but was still trusted by some people thanks to her image as a “businesswoman serving the community” through charity livestreams… Even when Hoang Huong was arrested, many people still believed “nothing, she was doing charity work”.

Finally, socio-economic pressure and the need for “quick solutions” become “catalysts” for the public to trust KOLs more. KOLs take advantage of this to sell products, creating a sense of “unmissable opportunity” to scam. This is a clear sign that consumers “operate more emotionally than rationally”.

In the context of an incomplete society, a troubled legal system; a two-level local government model with a number of issues to be resolved, some KOLs have taken advantage of this to "manipulate psychology", "lead public opinion", create "dirty media" campaigns to make illegal profits, even attack and distort the Party's policies and guidelines, the State's policies and laws; incite illegal protests, and spread bad and toxic information. Some elements have also taken advantage of ethnic and religious issues to incite division in the great national unity bloc...

Trust is abused

The mentality that “whatever idols say is right” makes many consumers easily fall into the media trap. Therefore, when many people who were once praised for their “kindness” or “inspiration” have to appear in court, the public is not only disappointed but also confused.

Trust is exploited, emotions are manipulated, and social media has become a “court of emotions” – where right and wrong are decided by pity or hate. It is time for both celebrities and the public to return to their roles as responsible citizens: influencers should understand their limits, and users should consciously choose their beliefs.

VIET LAM - DIEP HANG - AN BINH

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/ao-vong-quyen-luc-trong-the-gioi-mang-bai-1-quyen-luc-mang-tu-kol-post820483.html